Category Archives: Cranking the Flywheel

Post navigation

Christina James is the pseudonym of our guest blogger Linda Bennett, a director at Salt Publishing and a regular speaker at the Winchester Writers’ Festival. Fair of Face is her sixth novel in the DI Yates series.

High on a throne of a royal state, which far Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind, Of where the gorgeous East with richest hand Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, Satan exalted sat ….

From Paradise Lost, John Milton

When John Milton created the character of Satan, he presented himself with a dilemma: how could he make the character of God the Father as appealing as that of Lucifer, the fallen angel? It turned out that he couldn’t. God the Father, depicted as the sole monolithic force for good in Paradise Lost, actually comes across as a bit of a stodgy prig, smugly confident that, as creator of the universe, his own view of it is the only correct one and that he’s unquestionably right to banish Lucifer, that glamorous upstart, from his presence.

It’s clear that Milton himself became fascinated with Lucifer, giving him good looks and a fine intelligence, able to debate and agonise over what it means to sin. But, if Lucifer had been portrayed as an unthinking vile being – a monolithic force for evil – Milton would merely have created two tediously single-minded leading characters and, in all probability, left his readers cold.

Countless other authors have since wrestled with the problem of how to capture and explore the tension between good and evil without letting the glamour of evil take over. Achieving such tension lies at the heart of all successful crime fiction… and the crime genre above all others requires an effective villain.

Most crime writers draw some of their facts from ‘true crime’ by studying accounts of notorious murders and murderers. These are often written by journalists or ex-policemen, who recount the crimes in lurid detail and apply a pretty simplistic moral yardstick: eg, this man was a monster because he killed young girls. No one can dispute the validity of such an analysis, but of itself it doesn’t translate into good fiction. No reader is going to spend several hours reading a novel if s/he suspects that it’s just about the pursuit of a really bad man or woman who is ultimately going to be caught and punished, because this would include no attempt to penetrate the perpetrator’s psyche. It is the desire to understand what makes the villain tick that motivates the reader to carry on reading: what is the warped rationale underpinning his or her dreadful crimes? And, having gradually gained fascinating insights into that, the reader is ineluctably caught up in the suspenseful anticipation of likely further atrocities, intelligently if horrifically contrived, before the heroic man or woman on the side of right can intervene. In this respect, fiction is usually quite different from fact, because – shockingly, but at the same time not helpful to the writer – some of the worst criminals are banal people with little imagination. Their psyches, to the rest of us, are impossible to fathom and they, therefore, are not very interesting.

The genre of crime writing has its own conventions. Predominant among these is that harmony and order must be restored to the internal world of the novel at its conclusion. Often such resolution will consist of the apprehension and appropriate punishment of the perpetrator, though contemporary crime writers employ variations on this theme and may tease the reader by allowing the villain to escape. (A useful by-product of such an approach is that, ipso facto, the seeds of a sequel have now been sown!) Two of my own villains, Peter Prance (In the Family) and de Vries (Sausage Hall) evade justice. Prance, reappearing in Rooted in Dishonour, finally gets his come-uppance; I have yet to decide whether de Vries, as several of my readers have requested, will make a come-back.

The well-crafted elusive villain has immense power to capture the reader’s imagination. Here is someone who secretly carries out his or her nefarious pursuits, sometimes covering large geographical distances with almost supernatural speed. Unlike most real-life criminals, s/he’s often a person of financial substance, good-looking, well-educated, an appreciator of the arts: in other words, s/he is glamorous. Thomas Harris’s Hannibal Lecter is such a character, as are Conan Doyle’s Moriarty and John Le Carré’s Karla. (It has been observed that, in a sense, Moriarty and Karla represent the evil alter egos of Sherlock Holmes and George Smiley respectively; and Clarice Starling increasingly falls under Hannibal Lecter’s spell, even though she doesn’t condone his crimes.) In very different ways, each of these authors has succeeded brilliantly in grabbing and holding the reader’s attention by juxtaposing good and evil and quite often demonstrating that they are not, ironically, so very different from each other.

The challenge for the author who has created such an evil character is how to preserve enough of the villain’s mystique to keep on intriguing the reader, while allocating a considerable chunk of the narrative to the ‘good’ protagonist whose role is, compellingly against the odds, to figure out what the criminal is up to. A popular device used in contemporary crime fiction is to intersperse the main chapters of the novel with short pieces addressed by the villain directly to the reader. It can work well and has the bonus of providing the reader with insights denied to the protagonist, but there are pitfalls: if such pieces occur too frequently, are too prolix, introduce too much repetition or simply depict a narrow and vicious anti-social cypher instead of a fully-rounded bad person, they lose their power. Similarly, if the reader finds out so much about the villain that s/he ceases to be interesting, the spell woven by the author will have been broken.

There is more than one way of restoring harmony at the end of a crime novel: as I’ve indicated, resolution may be imperfect, allowing the escape of the villain while ensuring that the immediate threat that s/he poses has passed. It’s generally accepted that, while readers enjoy the vicarious thrill of engaging with a really wicked character, ultimately they want to be reassured that some kind of justice has prevailed. A recent approach, developed mainly in America, is for the concluding chapter to describe a folksy event – say, a barbecue provided by a grateful potential victim who has been delivered from evil by the protagonist – at which, amid laughter and rejoicing, all those present discuss the villain’s crimes and how they’ve now been solved. Whilst I understand that such an ending could appeal to a nervous reader, I find it jarringly artificial: worse, it seems to me to destroy that fundamental tension between good and evil that I’ve suggested is the goal of crime writing.

As Milton knew, resolution does not mean recapturing the more innocent world that existed before the perpetrator’s crimes took place. Everyone touched by the villain’s acts of malice is changed:

Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon …. They hand in hand with wandering steps and slow Through Eden took their solitary way.

At this year’s Winchester Writer’s Festival, best-selling children’s author M G Leonard gave a valuable talk on how authors can reach out and find new readers on social media. She has kindly agreed to provide this summary of her presentation.

Online is a crowded marketplace, and there all kinds of digital platforms and products for writers to use. Blogs, videos and social media provide a shop window, a creative playground and a community hub. However, it takes work, which is both time consuming and unpaid.

Why be online?

There are plenty of reasons: to control your professional identity, develop professional relationships, sell a product, promote your work, do research or develop a creative project. So, the work that you put in can pay off if you have the right strategy and persist.

First, you need to ask yourself some questions:

What online presence should I have?

Who, why and how will people engage with my online content?

What do I want from them?

It’s important to know what’s available and how it might work for you.

You need a website

Your website should represent you and your work. It must be the central hub for news, social media links, links to buy your books, press cuttings etc. Maya recommends using squarespace.com as it offers a free trial for a month (see http://www.mgleonard.com). Top tip: choose your domain name carefully.

Twitter

Used mainly by an English speaking adult audience

Used by the publishing industry

Good for making connections, finding communities, reaching your (adult) readers

On Twitter you can be an advocate for fiction. You can be personal, but be careful in the way you express yourself as anyone can view your tweets. Top tip: choose your name, ‘handle’ and blurb carefully, and get to know which hashtags connect you to likeminded ideas, groups and communities: eg #askagent, #amwriting or #ukyachat.

Facebook

Facebook is international and used by adult audiences only. You must have a personal Facebook account to set up an Author Page, which is a great way for readers to contact you. Facebook will sell you advertising, called ‘Boost’ and will also want you to use their video share, rather than YouTube.

YouTube/video

Authors ignore video at their peril! Anyone can make a video with a smartphone, and YouTube videos can be embedded on every platform except Facebook. Top tip: make sure you script your video. Keep it short and interesting.

Instagram

Instagram is the most powerful advertising platform right now. It is owned by Facebook. It has strong privacy settings and is therefore used by children as well as adults. You can post video, stories, photo posts and use it for messaging, and your Instagram posts can be shared instantly on Facebook, tumblr and Twitter. Top tip: get good at tagging #authorlife #books #authorsofinstagram and #selfie.

Soundcloud and podcasts

You can make a podcast with a smartphone. There is a free simple audio editing software called AUDACITY. Top tip: listen to other podcasts before you make your own.

E-newsletter

An email list of readers is your most powerful tool. M G Leonard sends a bi-monthly newsetter, along with the occasional special announcement. Use Mailchimp.com as it is free, simple, and comes with video tutorials. It will give you a code to copy and paste into your website to allow people to subscribe to your newsletter.

To conclude

All of these options are worth investigating, but you don’t need to use them all! Work out what presence you need to generate work. Figure out your strengths and how often you can commit to updates. Consider your criteria for success, track analytics where you can and review your online presence regularly. Is the time spent worth the return?

M G Leonard is the author of the best-selling and award-winning Beetle Boy, its sequel Beetle Queen and the forthcoming Battle of the Beetles. She spent her early career in the music industry before training as an actor, then working as a digital media producer at the National Theatre, the Royal Opera House and Shakespeare’s Globe.

Fran Benson is a freelance journalist and copywriter based on the borders of Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire. She writes legal, business and women’s interest pieces for a variety of publications and organisations, as well as short stories for the women’s magazine market and is writing her first novel – a mid-grade fantasy.

Fran was longlisted for the Penguin Random House mentoring programme in 2016 for her novel and is currently redrafting and editing it prior to submission.

I’ve just recovered from a weekend at the University of Winchester attending their annual writer’s festival. And what a weekend that was. it’s not often – read that as never – that I get to spend that much time focused on my fiction and it lived up to my every expectation.

Lemn Sissay was the keynote speaker – powerful, vibrant, funny and profound. He talked about how although we write individually, tucked away in our oneness, that writing is a team sport. And that’s the feeling I came away with from this weekend. Everybody supported each other. The speakers wanted us to do well – particular thanks to Adrienne Dines and Helen Dennis for brilliant workshops. I met up with friends and made new ones. And we cheered for those who had requests from agents for full manuscripts.

I think it was Helen Fields in her after dinner speech who said that Winchester Festival changes you. It sounded like one of those throw away comments which sounds good at the time washed down with a glass of pinot grigio. But you know, when the swirling blizzard of thoughts and ideas finally settled some time over the 48 hours since coming home, then I can say now that actually yes it does.

I have a new found confidence and I’m brimming with ideas and enthusiasm to take to my writing. I’ve already made some decisions that were just not in my consciousness prior to the weekend. My agent meetings went well – and they play a large part in the confidence I’m beginning to feel in myself – thank you to Felicity Trew and Ella Kahn for cheeriness and professionalism at the end of a very hot Saturday. But it was also the enthusiasm of all the speakers and delegates rolled into one that grows into something bigger than the sum of its individual parts.

I’m already looking forward to whatever package of speakers and events the organisers will be pulling together for next year and eagerly awaiting the email so that I can book it all over again.

I went on a writing retreat at the end of April – three days alone in a cottage in Devon. No children, no students, no phone signal. What I did have was a novel I wanted to edit.

Or rather, I’d edited it already, over and over, but I wasn’t finished yet.

One more read-through. Then I’d be done.

The cottage was gorgeous, tiny and tucked away and I set to work immediately. I cut down several paragraphs. I found a typo. I changed someone’s name, then changed it back again. Some excellent advice echoed in my head: don’t stop until it’s ready. Don’t stop until you’re sure. I wasn’t sure.

On my third day I went for a walk to think about my novel. I made for the cliffs, climbing as high as I could. The sun shone. The wind blew. It felt good.

I ignored this.

I marvelled at this.

And discussed all possible permutations with these (pics of lambs are obligatory in Devon in April).

By the time I’d walked down here

I’d stopped thinking about my novel and started thinking about something less familiar. A new character sitting down at my kitchen table, making himself at home. Where do they come from, these people? They walk in, unannounced…

So I put on my swimming costume and went for a swim. It was freezing (it was April), exhilarating and a little bit terrifying on an empty stretch of beach beneath the cliffs.

As I walked back to the cottage I knew I was done with my novel. It was time to begin something new.

After months of planning, the new Festival Programme for 2017 launches on Monday 20 February. I hope you’ll take a look and like what you see – we’ve dozens of new speakers, opportunities, treats and surprises, as well as firm Festival favourites and the return of many good friends.

If you’ve not attended before (or even if you have…) you may find the following tips and pointers helpful.

One-to-ones

Some one-to-one slots book up quickly. However, while we don’t want you to miss out on your first choices, do take your time to read the programme in full and consider all the options.

Speakers’ bios give quite a bit of information, but it’s useful to research their websites too.

If a speaker says they are ‘not looking for…’ they mean it!

If you are ready to pitch in a one-to-one, then make this clear in your cover letter.

If you are simply looking for feedback and advice on any aspect of your work-in-progress or the current market, then this is fine too. Editors and agents will be happy to talk to writers who don’t have finished projects, but it is helpful to let them know that this is what you are seeking.

When we receive your booking, we will email you with confirmation of your appointments.

You don’t need to send the work for review straight away, but we do need to receive it by post by 24 May. We will send you instructions on how to send the work.

All-day courses and workshops

These are carefully designed to include a variety of stimulating learning activities, focused writing exercises and opportunities to share your writing with the tutor/others in the group. You will have an hour’s break for a two-course buffet lunch, and there are coffee and tea breaks, too.

Friday courses have a maximum 25 participants. Sunday workshops have a maximum of 15 participants.

Tutors know that you may have to pop out of your course on Friday afternoon for one-to-one appointments. This is expected.

So sit back with a coffee and enjoy browsing. If you have any questions or queries, don’t hesitate to contact myself or Sara Gangai, events manager, by phone or email.

I am always looking for story prompts to use with students and for my own writing. An odd doorway, an interesting pair of shoes, a singular expression… all go into the writer’s store cupboard, to be hoarded until I find a use for it.

At Christmas, those prompts are easy to come by, perhaps because the season is a time of nostalgia for some, joy for many and, maybe, regret or loneliness for others. Objects take on meaning with consummate ease. Story is everywhere.

Here are three visual prompts from my Christmas tree.

A bright, shiny robin.

A smiling angel, speeding through the heavens like Superwoman or Buzz Lightyear.

And this one.

I don’t know what it is. Our tree is loaded with the decorations the children made at school years ago – salt dough snowmen, felt stockings, sparkly cardboard candy canes. They all deny making this one, though. ‘Not mine!’ they declare, year after year.

But I can’t throw it away. This one, of all the decorations, holds a secret, a lost beginning. I think of it as the stranger at the table, whose presence I won’t deny. What is its story?

And then there’s this…

I’ve been passing it as I walk up St James’ Lane past the cemetery to work all week. First, you have to guess what it is. Then, how did it get there? If your imagination, like mine, is sparked by these questions, try writing a piece of flash fiction about it – no more than 500 words. A flash fiction is a story which does much more than its size would suggest. It shows a glimpse which implies a larger story, and every word works its hardest to bring meaning, plot, character and theme alive.

Then you might decide to enter your story in our Flash Fiction competition when our ten writing competitions open in mid-January.

Helen Fields met her agent, Caroline Hardman, through The Winchester Writers’ Festival. Perfect Remains, her first novel in a new crime series, will be published by Avon (HarperCollins) in January 2017.

Getting published is the same as everything in life. There’s no set path. Here’s how I thought it had happened for me… and then didn’t… and then actually did.

I spent thirteen years working as a criminal and family law barrister, but the birth of our third child made continuing too much of a sacrifice. Since then I’d filled in as a producer in my husband’s media company but I’d always known I wanted to write, so I took some time out (courtesy of my very understanding husband) and gave it a go.

A few months later I self-published my first cross-over fantasy book. I didn’t bother advertising it or sending it to agents. At that stage I was still testing myself. Another six months passed and I’d written a sequel. That was when I attended the Winchester Writers’ Festival for the first time. I met some wonderful people, learned a lot, and realised I was more serious about writing than I’d admitted to myself. Invited to read out a sample of my writing, I was advised (to my relief and delight) to find an agent.

At that point I decided to challenge myself by changing genres. The result was historical fiction, although very dark and crime oriented, with a female protagonist who also happened to be a serial killer. I wrote, edited, rewrote, then squashed my fear of rejection and sent it out to agents. The response was good. I had several agents asking for the full manuscript very quickly. I was due to meet with Caroline Hardman from Hardman & Swainson at the next Winchester Writers’ Festival so she read it in advance, we met, and I signed with her immediately. It’s the dream, right? Write manuscript, get agent, open champagne etc etc. Keep reading…

Soon my precious manuscript was winging its way to the inboxes of commissioning editors. I received incredibly positive comments about my writing, the Edwardian London setting, the characters – you name it. But I was a debut author and I’d done something problematic. I’d crossed genres, creating something like historical grip lit. I hadn’t put myself on an easy-to-market shelf. My lead female character was complex, edgy and I’d thrown together the suffragettes, gambling halls and a woman addicted to killing. This book is still sitting on my desktop. All the positive feedback I could have wanted and still no publishing deal.

By then, I was already outlining another story set in a World War II hospital in Malta, but I needed research time. Writing, though, had become an essential part of my day, so whilst researching that, I began writing a modern day detective series set in Scotland, drawing on my experience of criminals and the police, forensics and a country I adore. And suddenly there it was, the elusive book deal. The Avon imprint of HarperCollins asked for three books and I’m in the process of writing the third. The first, Perfect Remains, comes out on January 26, 2017. I loved getting into the head of a psychopath who, I very much hope, gets deeply under readers’ skin (not to mention the amateur dentistry)…

The dream, finally, became a reality. I work with a talented, funny, supportive publishing team and I’m loving it. The dramatisation rights have already been sold. The second book in the series, Perfect Prey, is in the process of cover design and line edit. I’m plotting where my Scottish detective characters go from here and mulling over a screenplay idea.

My advice to you, is to write with a nod to what is commercial if you want to give yourself the best chance of getting published. Be easy to work with. Bend. Accept advice. Be grateful when people offer words of wisdom, even if they’re not the ones you wanted to hear. Be prepared to edit until you can’t stand to look at your manuscript any longer. And as I said, don’t expect it to happen the way you expected it to happen. The ride will be all the more exciting for the surprises.

I am pretty lucky, certainly in writing terms. I have an agent (which still makes me grin like a fool whenever I write it) and I’m currently planning my second novel whilst my agent (queue grin) edits the first. Not bad, eh?

But, would I be in this position without the Winchester Writers’ Festival? Probably not.

Let me explain.

I first attended Winchester (as the cool kids call it) in 2015, shy, nervous and still recovering from the confidence-eradicating curse of post-natal depression and PTSD. But I was here, I had done it, written that book I always said I would write, carrying aloft the manuscript of my first novel. This was going to be it. I was going to find an agent who saw my potential and everyone was going to fall in love with this wonderful book I had written…

Queue the biggest shock of my life. Because nobody signed me, nobody even asked to read the entire manuscript and I learned that the publishing industry is damn hard to crack.

But what I got instead was so, so much better. I wasn’t given luck; I was given the foundations of a career. I discovered the groundings of good writing, teachers who were enthusiastic and wanted me to succeed, I made great friends and I learnt so much about the industry as a whole that my prospects sky rocketed.

I met Simon Hall, the teacher who became my mentor who thus became a good friend. I can’t recommend his writing course enough; it changed my perception of writing, gave me the confidence and the tools to write to my best ability. He’s still my first port of call on all writing problems and, if there are any places left on his course, do grab one with both hands. Just don’t panic too much if he throws chairs against the wall or breathes on your neck whilst your eyes are closed.

I digress.

This year I returned to Winchester for the second time. Same book, completely rewritten (for the twelfth time) and I possessed not just confidence but a sense of reality. I kept an open mind. I came to learn, to seek advice on improving my craft, I accepted any criticism offered with open arms, only wincing very slightly when it was negative. And guess what? It paid off. In bucket loads.

The woman who could barely leave her house three years before stood up before a crowd of people and read her own work (That’s me.)

Largely helped by Kate Firth’s incredible performance workshop and Simon Hall egging me on to get up there and bloody well do it. (And if you’re planning on reading at the open mic – do! I recommend memorising as much of your piece as possible, it really does help you connect with your audience.)

I didn’t technically find my agent at Winchester, but I definitely found her because of Winchester. After the festival I rewrote the manuscript again and sent it off to a select few of the agents I had wanted to see at the festival but hadn’t been matched with for one-to-one appointments.

Four agents asked to see the book.

The next day I caught one of those dandelion fairies, the kind that you hold in the palm of your hand and make a wish. I wished for Kate Burke.

Was it the dandelion fairy? Or was it, perhaps, the vast amount of knowledge and experience I gained from Winchester that helped me out? Because guess what… Kate Burke at Diane Banks Associates signed me up. And I haven’t stopped grinning since, because she is awesome.

As, of course, is the Winchester Writer’s Festival.

Rebecca Tinnelly is most interested in writing about the darker side of society and family life, no doubt fuelled by the stories she was told by her stepmother, a consultant pathologist. After seven years in sales and marketing, most recently selling coffins, she waved goodbye to the office and now spends her time writing psychological suspense and, when not writing, bakes the odd cake or two.

This month’s guest post comes from writer and journalist Simon Hall. Simon has had seven novels published, as well as short stories, a play and even a pantomime. Simon also teaches writing, including at the Winchester Writers Festival, and mentors authors towards publication.

How many times have you been told you need to know your characters, plot and settings intimately to write about them convincingly?

But what about knowing yourself?

To be a successful writer you have to understand the writing rhythms within you, and find a way to build them into your life.

We’ve all heard about the divide between morning and evening people, larks and owls. And that’s a useful place to start.

When I first decided to start writing, around ten years ago, I had to change my life. I’ve always known I was a morning person and I needed to capitalise on that. It’s when my mind is fresh, clear and amenable to sparking with creativity.

I used to go to bed around 10.30, then get up (grumpily) with the alarm.

No longer. Now I’m usually in bed around nine, waking up soon after five, and quickly writing away.

And do you know what surprised me? Despite many initial misgivings, getting up at that time doesn’t feel like a chore. Because I wake with a mind full of ideas and enthusiasm, and can’t wait to get them all down on paper.

For me it’s worked wonderfully, and now I couldn’t imagine life any other way.

But your writing rhythm isn’t as straightforward as simply when you’re at the most creative.

Mind and body work best in tandem, and that takes managing.

As a writer, you can tire your brain with little physical effort. So here’s my next writing rhythms trick, to prod the sacred pairing back into synch.

I know I can only write for around three hours at a stretch before my mind is too jaded to produce anything I’d ever want anyone to see.

So about 8.30, I take myself out for a run.

I’m lucky in that I live on the river in Exeter, meaning a wonderful route is within easy reach.

But I’d recommend finding somewhere you like to unwind and get some exercise, because while your body is working…

…your mind is recharging itself. I find that give yourself an hour’s exercise, and voila!

Your creativity is rested and refreshed, your body is relaxed, and you can settle back down for some more writing.

And one more matter to mention on the rhythms of writing –

Give yourself a break!

I build in a day every week – usually a Sunday – when I don’t do any actual writing. I’m happy to carry a notepad and jot down any thoughts that come to me.

But I find a day off from actually typing away is powerful in recharging the writing energy. So come Monday morning, when you sit back down at the keyboard, you’re filled with the zest to start work again.

In the perfect rhythm you’ve come to discover about yourself, of course…

This morning I dropped by my local corner shop and bought: a tin of dog food, two first class stamps and a chicken samosa.

The man serving me smiled. ‘Peckish?’ he asked. I hope he was referring to the samosa.

Shopping lists, shopping receipts… the things we mean to buy and the things we end up buying are hugely suggestive. Who doesn’t cast their eye over someone else’s scribbled reminders for ‘carpet stain remover’ and ‘bananas – very ripe’ or a recent favourite, ‘eggs, bathroom unblocker, Pims’, dropped on the zebra crossing in the car park at the Winchester branch of Sainsburys?

It puts me in mind of a wonderful poem written by a writing-group friend recently. If I say it was, essentially, a shopping list, I am doing a disservice to its playfulness, its cadences and rhythms.

I am always on the look-out for interesting writing exercises to inspire attendees who visit the Festival’s Writing Room on Saturday 18th June. So, this year, come and find a shopping list, or a receipt, and create a character based on what you imagine they are doing and thinking as they chew their pencil or wander along the aisles. All the lists and receipts will be ‘found’ and genuine – nothing made up. So if you happen to come across an interesting list or find yourself buying some intriguing items and saving the itemised receipt, do send them to me at Winchester Writers’ Festival, Masters Lodge, University of Winchester, Sparkford Road, Winchester SO22 4NR.

Who knows what a fellow writer’s imagination will make of it!

This year the Writers’ Room will be set up in St Edburga room 303. If you are attending the Festival on Saturday 18th June, do drop by for a quiet place to write or have a go at one of the writing prompts you’ll find there.